30-year-old inspired by her aunt’s illness built an AI startup that’s now raised nearly $10M. Here’s how she did it
World Economic Forum/YouTube
For many families, caring for a sick loved one can trigger a financial crisis. Medical bills, lost income and the cost of long-term care can quickly drain savings, forcing difficult decisions at an already emotional time. Lily Vittayarukskul knows the burden firsthand.
In an essay for Business Insider, the 30-year-old said she was just a teenager when her aunt was diagnosed with cancer, setting off a chain of events that financially and emotionally devastated her family.
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But it was this experience that inspired her to develop an AI-powered platform designed to help people prepare for the financial realities of taking care of a sick family member — and her company has now raised $9.2 million.
Her backstory
According to the entrepreneur, her childhood dream was always to become an aerospace engineer. She was just 11 years old when she entered a NASA competition, going on to intern at the space agency as a teenager in an attempt to make her dreams come true.
It was then that her aunt was diagnosed with cancer. At just 16, Vittayarukskul says her family’s life changed overnight. Her mom became her aunt’s primary care giver and they were faced with medical expenses they didn’t expect.
Financially speaking, Vittayarukskul says her family was left with almost nothing. And it wasn’t just a strain on their budget. She says the tragedy impacted her family’s relationships with each other long after her aunt passed away.
It was this experience that inspired Vittayarukskul to develop a tool to help families plan for the cost of caring for a sick loved one.
“I wanted to understand why planning for aging and long-term care was so fragmented,” Vittayarukskul wrote in her essay for Business Insider. “No one seemed to be solving the problem the way I thought it needed to be solved.”
Vittayarukskul co-founded Waterlily, an AI-powered long-term care planning platform. The site helps people estimate “when they may need long-term care, how much it could cost, and how to pay for it based on their health, finances, and family situation.” It also provides personalized projections and funding strategies, considering things like insurance, savings and caregiving plans.
Vittayarukskul says her work has been harder than she anticipated because of how interconnected and diverse the health care industry is. Her startup works across the healthcare, insurance and financial services industries.
Families caring for a seriously ill loved one often face expenses that extend far beyond hospital bills. Out-of-pocket costs can include deductibles, prescription drugs, medical equipment, transportation to appointments and home modifications. At the same time, many caregivers are forced to reduce their work hours or even leave their jobs to provide care, cutting household income during an already strained time.
In 2024, Americans paid about $556.6 billion out of pocket for healthcare services not covered by insurance. According to KFF, 41% of adults carry some form of medical debt and 24% say they currently have medical or dental bills that are past due or they are unable to pay.
Vittayarukskul says discovering how widespread these financial challenges are reinforced her belief that her family’s experience was not an isolated tragedy.
“I’d assumed my family’s experience was unusually devastating,” Vittayarukskul wrote. “Instead, I found that many families who experience serious long-term care needs face financial strain and relationship breakdowns.”
Personal growth through innovation
The entrepreneur says her journey with Waterlily has changed her in a number of ways. Running the business has made her more financially literate than she ever thought she’d be. It’s also helped her develop a deeper understanding of insurance, retirement planning, healthcare and financial services.
Vittayarukskul says her career has changed her personal definition of success as well. As a child, she viewed success as solving interesting problems. Now, she says she views success as building something meaningful, something that helps people regain control during times of uncertainty.
“If my aunt were alive today, I don’t think she would care very much about the technical details of the platform. But I also think she’d ask me two questions: 1. Are you helping people? 2. Is this business sustainable?,” Vittayarukskul wrote. “I’d like to think she’d be proud of both answers.”
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